Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the top agenda items at this year’s BRICS summit in Russia, U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, and a major corruption scandal for a former Peruvian president.
Putin Touts Moscow’s Friendships
Brick by brick, Russia is hoping to use this week’s three-day BRICS summit to challenge the U.S.-led global order and Western efforts to isolate Moscow for its war against Ukraine. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed representatives from 36 countries to the city of Kazan to participate in what the Kremlin has described as one of the “largest-scale foreign-policy events ever” in Russia. BRICS member countries collectively account for 45 percent of the world’s population and 35 percent of the global economy.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the top agenda items at this year’s BRICS summit in Russia, U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, and a major corruption scandal for a former Peruvian president.
Putin Touts Moscow’s Friendships
Brick by brick, Russia is hoping to use this week’s three-day BRICS summit to challenge the U.S.-led global order and Western efforts to isolate Moscow for its war against Ukraine. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed representatives from 36 countries to the city of Kazan to participate in what the Kremlin has described as one of the “largest-scale foreign-policy events ever” in Russia. BRICS member countries collectively account for 45 percent of the world’s population and 35 percent of the global economy.
This is the bloc’s first meeting since it nearly doubled in size earlier this year, and it’s the largest international gathering that Putin has hosted since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Alongside Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, BRICS membership now includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has been invited to join but has yet to do so.
Putin is hoping to use the summit to signal that Moscow is not alone on the world stage. Last year, the Russian leader was forced to attend the bloc’s meetings in Johannesburg virtually after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him in March 2023 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. As a signatory of the Rome Statute, South Africa would have been required to arrest Putin were he to step foot on its soil.
This year, BRICS countries and interested members “will be a substantial element of the new world order,” Putin said. The Kremlin claims that more than 30 nations seek to join or cooperate with the bloc. Putin has touted BRICS’s growing political and economic clout but has denied that the group is an “anti-Western alliance.”
Three agenda items will likely dominate BRICS discussions this week:
1. The Russia-Ukraine war
China and Brazil plan to use the summit to promote their joint six-point peace proposal, which they presented at last month’s United Nations General Assembly meeting and which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opposes. Late Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stressed New Delhi’s interest in achieving a truce deal.
Yet, Putin has vowed not to relinquish control over the four Ukrainian regions that Russia currently occupies, and many BRICS nations reportedly back Moscow’s war efforts. Iran has allegedly provided Russia with short-range ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones. And China has been accused of sending dual-use goods, such as machine tools and microelectronics, to Russia despite its neutral stance. Both Tehran and Beijing deny these claims.
2. Escalating tensions in the Middle East
Iran backs Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen—all of which are fighting Israel. China and Russia have both criticized Israel’s actions in southern Lebanon and Gaza and have called for a cease-fire in the latter conflict. However, the United Arab Emirates remains a more neutral player, maintaining some ties with the West as it serves as a moderator for the conflict.
3. Reducing dependence on the U.S. dollar
Several BRICS countries have expressed interest in moving away from the Western-led SWIFT payment system by using BRICS currencies and financial institutions. This would help Russia circumvent Western sanctions as well as boost technological and economic cooperation regarding energy and satellite data-sharing.
Other key moments to keep an eye out for: Modi will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the summit’s sidelines on Wednesday—just a day after Beijing confirmed that it had reached a deal with New Delhi to jointly patrol their shared disputed border. India announced that it would open two new consulates in Russia. And Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with Moscow to deepen the two countries’ defense and military relationship.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Shuttle diplomacy. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to push for a cease-fire in the Middle East. This was likely the Biden administration’s last attempt to end the Israel-Hamas war and the ensuing conflict in southern Lebanon before the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election. After Israel, Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to continue discussing the conflict. A planned trip to Jordan was scrapped on Tuesday, reportedly due to scheduling issues.
Repeated diplomatic efforts to end the war have failed. Blinken has traveled to the region 11 times since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to push for a truce in Gaza, the release of Hamas-held hostages, and the increase of humanitarian aid to the enclave. Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special envoy for energy affairs, said on Monday that Washington is also working on a formula to stop Israel-Hezbollah hostilities for good, adding that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last war between the two adversaries in 2006, is not enough.
Washington hoped that the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week would open the door for fresh cease-fire talks. However, both Israel and Hamas have vowed to continue fighting, and Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it would not engage in negotiations until there is a truce in Gaza. The group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a drone strike targeting Netanyahu’s home in the coastal town of Caesarea last Saturday. Newly released photos show that the attack cracked the prime minister’s bedroom window. Netanyahu was not home at the time.
Corruption charges. A Peruvian court sentenced former President Alejandro Toledo to 20.5 years in prison for corruption. Toledo was convicted of accepting $35 million in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in exchange for a contract to build a 403-mile highway linking Peru to Brazil. Toledo has denied the charges, and his attorney said he plans to appeal the sentence.
The former president was arrested at his home in California in 2019, but the case was bogged down with legal concerns for years. These largely centered on whether Toledo could be extradited from the United States, which eventually occurred in 2023. Toledo’s attorney said the former leader will get credit for his time served since April 2023.
Toledo is not the only top official embroiled in an Odebrecht-related case. Former Peruvian Presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala are also under investigation in similar disputes; officials in Peru, Panama, and Ecuador have been jailed for actions allegedly made in connection to Odebrecht; and Guatemala and Mexico have hosted corruption probes into the construction giant. Odebrecht changed its name to Novonor in 2020.
Spyware case. London’s High Court ruled on Monday that a Saudi dissident can sue his home country from the United Kingdom. Rights activist Yahya Assiri has accused Riyadh of using Pegasus and other spyware to target his electronic devices between 2018 and 2020. The Saudi Embassy in London did not comment.
This is the second spyware-related case against a Persian Gulf state to hit London’s court system this month. On Oct. 4, London’s Court of Appeals ruled that Bahrain cannot claim state immunity to block a lawsuit alleging that Manama hacked the laptops of two dissidents. A similar case in 2022 rejected Saudi Arabia’s claim of immunity over a dissident accusing the kingdom of using Pegasus.
Pegasus spyware, made by the Israeli NSO Group, has been used to target several world leaders and rights activists in the past. Authorities have accused the technology of being used against French President Emmanuel Macron, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, among others.
Odds and Ends
Before passengers brave passport inspection and baggage security, travelers at New Zealand’s Dunedin Airport will be given a three-minute time limit for goodbyes to prevent traffic jams. “Max hug time three minutes,” reads a sign at the airport’s drop-off area. Those looking for “fonder farewells” must go to the airport’s parking lot instead. The policy began last month and has received some fierce backlash. “We were accused of breaching basic human rights and how dare we limit how long someone can have a hug for,” Dunedin Airport CEO Dan De Bono said. But don’t worry, he added. The airport does not have “hug police” enforcing the cuddle cap.
